What happened to art that was confiscated from Germany by the Soviet Union during the end of World War 2?

by LexanderX

I've just seen The Monuments Men (good film) and they mentioned that unlike the Allies who intended to return stolen art (wherever possible) the Soviets intended to seize the art for War Reparations. What does this mean? Did Russia sell the art to pay for damages? Did they place it in their own museums? Where is this art today?

Fandorin

There's a lot of it in various Russian museums, most notably the Hermitage in St Petersburg. Here are relatively recent articles on the subject:

http://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/30/arts/hermitage-in-its-manner-displays-its-looted-art.html

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-germany-russia-looted-art-20130623,0,2567138.story#axzz2tv13Hnjy